On 12/5/2007 10:37 AM Scott W spake thus:
> jjs wrote:
>> "Scott W" <biphoto@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:47563e5e$0$2296$4c368faf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Darkroom work is really now a hobbyists activity, expecting someone to
try
>>> and stay in business doing it is asking a bit much.
>>
>> Have you seen what custom B&W printers get for their work if they are
good,
>> and have a good reputation? Certainly, almost any bloke with bucks can
open
>> a digital do-it-yourself shop or quickie CD lab, but so what?
>>
>> Digital has liberated and elevated wet-darkroom work and film.
>
> The point is that darkroom work is quickly leaving the commercial market
> and being left as a hobbyist activity.
>
> The OP bemoaned the loss of the last place that made "real" color
> prints. There is not much market for "real" color prints or there would
> be more places doing them. But if someone feels that the old ways are
> best they can set up a darkroom and roll their own, this is as it should
> be, IMO.
Yes, I do feel that the old ways are best--but obviously, the market has
decided that those ways are no longer viable, so I am *forced* into the
bargain that you described. But your blase, somewhat
libertarian-sounding advice omits the crucial fact that it takes not
only equipment and money to set up such an operation, but also that
invaluable component known as experience.
I bemoan the loss of this service because I had Tony (the owner of
Cloner Artworks, now reincarnated as Berkeley Giclée), previously made
some color prints for me from negatives, and they were absolutely
gorgeous. Far, far better than anything I could hope to do even if I did
spend the money (which I don't have), buy the equipment, and spend a
year or two monkeying around with color printing. He provided a valuable
service that the "market", in its infinite wisdom, has decided should
end up in the ****can.
So, in short, your answer sucks.
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